Arcane performance by Twenty One Pilots, orchestra

The Game Awards 2024 nominations were announced on November 18 – less than a month before the actual show. And since one of the key moments of the annual event hosted by Geoff Keighley is the huge montage performance of the year’s best film score and music nominees, it’s a good thing that the conductor of the Game Awards Orchestra, Lorne Balfe, started preparing for the event long before him Started on December 12th, we knew which games would even make it.

“You’re constantly checking back every few months to see what new games are coming out,” Balfe said diversity. “It’s like an Oscar, people talk about a great film six months before the awards ceremony. So it’s all about familiarity when a new game comes out, and if everyone is talking about it and enjoying it, there’s a chance that that’s it. And there’s always an underdog, but when a game like Astro Bot comes out and everyone’s talking about it, I thought I’d listen to it and see what’s there and start preparing for it. None of this is supposed to be a massive heart attack shock, but you don’t know, and then you just start straight away. You have to keep refreshing your brain when a game comes out and goes, well, this could be in it, and this could be in it, and this could be in it too.”

This year’s Game Awards nominations for best score and music include “Astro Bot,” “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth,” “Metaphor: ReFantazio,” “Silent Hill 2” and “Stellar Blade.” But aside from the orchestra interpreting iconic songs from these games and other Game Awards nominees in various categories, Balfe coordinates other musical moments, such as teaming up with Twenty One Pilots, d4vd and Royal & the Serpent to perform their three respective soundtrack songs from Season 2 of Netflix’s “Arcane,” a series based on Riot Games’ “League of Legends.”

“It will be very iconic. And the reason for that is because I think so many musicians and artists are so invested in gaming – not financially, but emotionally – and they want to be a part of it,” Balfe said. “And this performance was created specifically for the show, so that’s how we do it. It was an incredible privilege to have David Campbell, the arranger, who has worked with probably every band on the planet. He is a legend. And what we do with the visuals will please the fan base, but more importantly, it’s a legitimate achievement. Whether you are connected to a game or not, it doesn’t matter, it will connect you strongly with the journey of that game. The work took a long time. And that’s the thing: We have so many different music spots because you have one spot like that, compared to something like the game montage where you kind of have to finish it in a week.”

And these orchestral accompaniments are just part of the larger musical plans for the Game Awards, which also include appearances from musical guests like Snoop Dogg, who will debut a new track at the show. Additional musical guests will be announced prior to the live Game Awards show on December 12 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be livestreamed for free on YouTube and other social channels.